"There is no doubt that man is a competitive animal, And there is no place where this fact is more obvious than in the ring. There is no second place. Either you win, or you lose. When they call you the champ, it is because you don't lose.

A professional prize fight can last forty-five minutes, Thats a long time to keep going. You have to be physically prepared . And you have to be mentally prepared. That means you have to understand pain.

There is pain in training. In running that extra mile, when your legs feel like logs. In the dull, monotonous grind, at the light bag and the heavy bag. But there's a reason for it. The moment you step into the ring, you know it was all worth it. If you've pushed your body into it's best shape, there's one thing less to worry about. Maybe it will give you one minute's more stamina. That minute can win you the fight.

Then there's fear. That's always there. You're not in the ring to demonstrate your courage. You're in there to win the fight. So you handle the fear, Maybe even use it. It's out of sight, somewhere behind you, but if you're not completely prepared, it pops up in front of you and then you're finished.

To win takes a complete commitment of mind and body. When you can't make that commitment, They don't call you champ anymore"

I don't get these posters who say that a boxer can never be scared as it's his job to get in the ring and fight (usually in defence of their favourite being accused of ducking someone).

Any big event, taken seriously enough, gives you nerves/fear.

Stepping into a ring to pit your physical ability against another man is the most atavistic/pathological thing you can do - there is no other event that refers your mind and body to mankind's most base instincts like boxing does.

The body's physical reactions to such an event (adrenalin, fight or flight syndrome, etc) cannot be overriden by the mind, which is why many fights start off slow as each fighter susses his oppoenent out before settling into their groove.

funny. i used to get nervous before a game of rugby league.....but lost my fear of RL after boxing.

but i never stopped being nervous before a fight...

i am however, nervous about putting my opinion in a marciano thread. i was a nothing.

Lol i was the exact same sally!! I dreaded playing Footy at 7:30am on a sunday morning untill i had my first fight. After that footy was a walk in the park untill the islander kids ***** started dropping!

That does not suprise me in the slightest!! In under 11's i played against a few Islander lads who out weighed my dad with ease and his no small fry

True story.
Mate I fix computers & one of "my" familes is tongan mixed.
She was here with her boy.
He was about 1.2 mtrs tall. I said to him in a playful way, "Why aren't you at school today?"
His mum Nerida said "He's only four Warwick"

I was flabergastered
"What!!! ,,,,,,,, what the hell do you feed him?"

Winder you must not have had enough fights because your nerves pretty much go after the first 10 or so after that its a walk in the park and quite fun but id have to agree that prior you sht pants most times and its more nerves than anything.